Harry Potter and the Trials of Fire
by MrBamforth
Summary: Ginny cheats on Harry. How can he recover from that, especially when he still has to destroy all of the Horcruxes and defeat Lord Voldemort?
1. Betrayal

Chapter 1 – Betrayal

Arthur Weasley stepped out of the telephone box. It had been yet another boring, almost eventless day in the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office. He'd had a few baiters enchant a chair so that it moved backwards from under the bottom of whichever unsuspecting muggle attempted to sit upon it. That had really been the only thing. In fact it had been very quiet for a while now. Perkins had said that it was the calm before the storm.

Stepping out onto the busy London Street, Arthur began to walk towards the portkey that he had set up. Arthur always liked to go for a walk through muggle London before he went home, marvelling at the televisions and all the new gadgets that were for sale in the nearby shops. Molly always warned him not to do this, and was always furious when she found out that he had, saying that it was too dangerous to be walking out alone. Arthur thought that she worried too much.

With a crack, two Death Eaters apparated into sight opposite him. Arthur Weasley stopped dead, making for his wand he started to run. It had only been ten minutes since he had left the ministry, surely they didn't usually attack that close, he thought. Dashing down the street he saw curse after curse stream past him. Bright red stunning spells shot past two, one hitting a sign for the underground as he rounded a corner back towards the ministry. He couldn't apparate right now in the panic that he was in; he would almost certainly splinch himself. Running into a dark alleyway off the main road he hid behind a bin and prayed they wouldn't see him, concealing himself with a disillusionment charm.

"Augustus, I think he went in there." He heard one of them whisper as they entered the alleyway. A cat came out from under the bin, mewing at him loudly. Arthur's eyes widened, trying to get the cat to go away, but it wouldn't. He didn't know how it could see him through his charm, but then he realised. It hadn't worked. He was completely out in the open. A Death Eater saw him. Arthur moved first.

"_Petrificus Totalus." _he shouted, aiming his wand at the first Death Eater, who ducked and fired a stunning spell at him. Crouching behind the bin for cover from the barrage of spells he was facing, he pointed blindly around the bin and shouted "stupefy." It completely missed, but gave the Death Eaters the chance they needed.

"_Sectumsempra" _Severus Snape said cruelly, firing the spell at Arthur's wand arm. Arthur screamed, as a heavy gash appeared and he dropped his wand. Scrambling for it on the floor he found it, and a vial of Peruvian Instant Darkness powder that had fell from his pocket. Thanking Merlin he threw it over the bin and apparate back to the ministry to report the attack.

**2 Hours Earlier**

As Harry stepped across the oak threshold into The Burrow, the familiar happy sight was before him. The Weasley family's household had always been bustling with magic, something that Harry didn't have when he was back at Privet Drive between the holidays. But Harry wouldn't be visiting that horrible place ever again, it wasn't safe for him or anyone to live there until Voldemort was killed.

The only inhabitant of the Burrow that was in the kitchen as he entered it, was none other than Molly Weasley, who immediately ran up to Harry, sweeping him into another of her bone crushing hugs that she was becoming famous for.

"Harry, my dear," Molly said, wrapping her arms around him in the tight embrace "How are you? We didn't expect you today." Harry didn't notice that she said this rather uneasily from the other side of the hug.

"I'm fine, thanks Mrs Weasley." said Harry, attempting to recover from the hug as he pulled away from it.

"Well Ron and Hermione are just de-gnoming the garden, I'm sure they'll be inside in a minute."

Harry thought fondly back to his second year when he had first helped with de-gnoming the garden. He had absolutely loved it, and had gotten rather competitive with the twins and Ron in seeing how far they could fling the funny-looking gnomes away from the garden.

"It's okay, Mrs Weasley, I'll go and help." replied Harry, eager to see his two best friends again.

"No you don't have- " called Mrs Weasley, but he had already gone, so she went back folding up clothes with her wand, whistling along to the wireless that was playing her favourite singer; Celestina Warbeck. She paused for a moment to think about Harry, how had looked the first day that she had met him on the platform at King's Cross station, and how he had developed into a well-rounded, loving young man even though he had had so much trouble with Lord Voldemort. Molly shuddered slightly as she thought of his name. She pondered how Harry's relationship with Ginny would last; she didn't know whether Harry would be going back to Hogwarts this year now that Voldemort had returned. Her heart panged for Ginny, she knew that Ginny had loved Harry since she had been ten, and had fantasised about him when she was younger than that after hearing his stories, hoping that he would be the handsome prince in her own little fairy tale. No, Ginny would be destroyed if Harry wasn't with her this year, but if Harry went upstairs, she didn't know what would happen. While he had broken up with her at Dumbledore's funeral, they had still been exchanging letters for most of the summer, and through sneakily reading one of them Molly knew that the love was still there, but how was she to spur it on in the hope that it would help them to continue through such dark times?

Harry was a little bit disappointed when he saw Hermione fling the last of the gnomes over the hedge and out of the garden, he had wanted to have a go himself, but this disappointment left him immediately when he saw his two best friends' faces as they turned towards him, realising that he was there.

"Harry!" They both shouted simultaneously as they bounded up the garden towards him, attacking him at once with a hug.

"You alright, mate?" Ron said, a little bit out of breath but grinning nonetheless.

"Surviving." Harry replied with a sigh. He felt the whole weight of the world on his shoulders, and it didn't really help that he had broken up with the love of his life only two weeks before.

"Come on Harry," said Hermione, wrapping her arm around his shoulder and spurring him back towards the house "She's in her room, I think you have some making up to do."

Harry was always amazed by the way that she could read his thoughts; she always had very finely tuned emotional radar and could therefore handle situations very easily. The moment that he heard these words, Harry's walking speed doubled, to the laughs of Hermione and Ron, knowing who he had really been missing for last two weeks. Running towards the stairs, he thought that he heard Molly shouting something in a rather panicky voice, but he decided to ignore it, his heart was racing, he could wait to see his Ginny again.

"No, Dean, stop it!" heard Harry through the crack in Ginny's door. She was giggling. A million thoughts raced through Harry's mind at once, and he opened the door to a sight that he thought he would never recover from.

Ginny looked up, panicked as she pulled her top down over her stomach. Dean Thomas was laid on the cover of the bed next to her, his face covered in lipstick. Harry's stomach dropped. He had never been so hurt in all his life. Without a word, he looked Ginny straight in the eye and shut the door behind him as he left.

"I think you better leave." said Ginny, putting on her shoes as she saw Harry run out into the garden.

"OK, when will I see you again?" replied Dean, pulling on his bag and moving towards the door.

"I don't know, I'll sort something out."

Harry leapt down the stairs and ran into the garden, dropping to his knees as he got toward the hedge. Ron and Hermione were nowhere to be seen. Harry screamed the most horrible, heart wrenching scream that he had ever made, not even when Sirius had died. His head thought a thousand things, all of them to do with her betrayal. How could he do this to her? Had she gotten over him so fast? Had she ever cared about him at all? Harry screamed again, tears streaming down his face as he thought of all the good times that he had shared with her. Their first kiss after she had won that Quidditch match last year, the afternoon by the lake. But all this was immediately interrupted by the image of what he had just seen. All of his memories turned to not memories of Ginny and Harry, but of Ginny and Dean. Harry watched in his mind as Ginny smiled, resting her head on Dean's stomach on that sunny afternoon. Dean turned and smirked at him.

Harry felt and intense rage build up inside him. Seeing red he stomped back towards the house, looking for Dean wherever he could. He ran into Ginny at the threshold into the house.

"Where is he?" he said, trying to keep calm. Ginny looked scared by the anger in his eyes. But felt a mixture of guilt and indignation at the same time. The indignation won.

"Gone." Ginny said smugly, watching for Harry's reaction. She blocked his way inside, knowing that Dean hadn't really left yet. But Harry couldn't tell that she had been lying.

Harry ran back out into the garden, screaming again as he dropped to his knees, further muddying up his jeans. Never had he felt so betrayed, so hurt, so foolish. Exhausted, he dropped to the floor, everything spinning in a mix of red hair, blue skies and the grass of the garden.


	2. Dual Agonies

Chapter 2 – Dual Agonies

Harry came round within minutes, lights spinning around his head, finally focusing on Ginny's hand on his face trying to wake him up.

"Get away from me." He shouted, getting up off the ground as he inspected his hands; they were covered in mud. He said nothing as he began to walk back towards the house, but wiped his eyes, smearing the mud over his face.

"Hey, I have done nothing wrong," replied Ginny, shouting just as loud as him "You were the one that dumped me, remember. What, did you think that I was going to sit there and wait for you forever?" She stood her ground, not wanting to follow him.

"You said that you loved me not two weeks ago! Did you love him as well?" Harry said, turning around and taking a step towards her. He looked at her with utter contempt, but with love as well. His head crumbling in the agony of his feelings.

"You know that I love you." Ginny said quietly.

"Well we know that's a load of bollocks, don't we?" said Harry, marching towards Ginny and looking her straight in the face. This time he spoke quietly and harshly, spitting every consonant. "Even in those letters you sent me while I was with the Dursleys, you still wrote of how you missed me and that you still loved me. Did you hell! Did you write it while you were fucking him?"

"How dare you!" Ginny retorted, pointing her wand at Harry who didn't flinch. He was too blind with rage, focusing on not completely flipping and cursing her. "You think it's been easy for me? All I hear about is how much you've been in danger, worrying if you were ever going to get her alive! Harry, I can't live like that, worrying if I'm ever going to see you again."

"So you choose that wanker, the one who only wants you for sex. He'll go for what he wants and when he does he'll move on." Harry regretted this the moment that he said it. He didn't hate Dean, knowing that he was an alright lad, he just hated him for what he had had with Ginny.

"You cannot say anything about Dean; he has been there for me when you weren't." Ginny retorted, her face curling with rage.

"I couldn't fucking do anything! I've been trapped in Privet Drive for two weeks clamouring to talk to you and I get back and you've turned into a whore. I want nothing more to do with you."

And with that Harry ran back up towards the house and up the stairs. Passing Hermione and Ron in the corridor outside his room, he ran inside and slammed the door and locked it.

On the other side of the door Harry collapsed onto his bed, and lay still. He was completely in shock but was trying not to think – it hurt too much. Unfortunately he succumbed to the nagging pain in the back of head and burst into tears, crawling into a foetal position, his back to the door.

Harry felt so alone. He had not really had his share of luck with girls. He had hoped to have had something with Cho, but it turned out she never fully got of Cedric, and then with Ginny, Harry thought that he had found his soulmate, the love of his life. _"_No. She is my soulmate," Harry said aloud as he went through these thoughts. He lay there late into the night, crying, praying for some way to take back what had happened. At about three a.m. he somehow managed to convince himself it was all a dream and went to sleep.

Harry didn't want to open his eyes when he woke up the next morning. He knew that it was only dawn as he could see the light shining through the windows. It was about six o'clock. Harry stayed in bed, thinking about what he was going to do. He didn't know whether he could face Ginny today, and wondered how awkward it would be to stay in a house after all that had happened. He hadn't even spoken to Ron and Hermione yet; Ron had obviously had the sense to not come in last night, something that Harry silently thanked him for.

He just laid in bed for about an hour, thinking. Finally, after eventually getting fed up of being awake in bed he shuffled over to the bathroom for a shower. Somehow, the scalding heat of the water upon his body felt cleansing. He hastily scrubbed his body, trying to rub away the damage that was only in his mind. Somehow he had to get rid of all the corruption there. Collapsing into tears on the floor of the shower, Harry sat for another ten minutes, unable and unwilling to get up. He was only spurred from the shower when he heard Molly shout everyone down for breakfast, and he did this very slowly.

When he got down the stairs, he realised that Ginny wasn't there. It seemed that she had had the sense to avoid him, but then Harry thought that maybe she was with Dean, making out under a tree. Harry closed his eyes and bit his lip. Thinking painful thoughts like that wasn't going to help. He had told himself last night that he needed to remain upbeat. Make her think that he didn't care, just like she hadn't cared.

He didn't touch the bacon and eggs that Molly loaded onto his place, but she obviously understood the situation, and came up behind him and hugged him. While she wasn't his mother, Molly was the closest thing he had. Unfortunately, her motherhood to Ginny made the hug feel awkward, and somehow even more alone. Everyone was connected in some way to Ginny, and he felt completely isolated.

After sitting there for ten minutes, Harry decided that he just couldn't be bothered anymore, and retired back up to his room, this time not locking the door. He just lay there in silence, staring at Ron's Chudley Cannons poster on the wall, and watching Hedwig prune her feathers. He couldn't think. It hurt too much to think. After laying in this position for two hours, he felt two familiar arms wrap themselves around him.

"I know Harry, I know." Whispered Hermione into his ear, holding him tight as her contact brought forth a fresh batch of tears. Harry reached for her arms, wrapping them tighter around him, trying to escape the feeling of being so alone. They just laid together in silence for what to Harry seemed like forever, until he turned around and cuddled her front on.

"_Why does Hermione always have to be right?" _Harry thought as he stared into her big brown eyes. She watched him back, every so often wiping away a stray tear that escaped him. It was a while longer before she spoke.

"So, Harry what are you going to do?" she whispered, keeping her voice as low and kind sounding as possible.

Harry lay there for a second, thinking. Finally he said croakily

"I don't know, Hermione. I just want her back."

"I know you do, Harry," replied Hermione, sitting up next to Harry "But now she has the final say. If she doesn't want you back there's nothing you can do about it."

"I know." Harry mouthed. He felt like he was in too much pain to even let the words out.

"If you need to talk to anyone, give me a call Harry. You know I'm always going to be here for you, I've got to go to Diagon Alley to help Molly out with something. Stay busy, you'll feel better."

And with that, Hermione got up and slowly closed the door behind her. Harry stared at the walls and ceiling again. He loathed how all the faces on the posters were happy. "How dare they!" he thought, hating the way that they could just stay happy when so much had happened.

"My Lord, the plan to_ Imperius_ the Weasley man didn't go as planned." said Augustus Rookwood, with a shivering voice towards a white shimmer in the darkness of the forest.

"Why?" was the one word that the cold, high voice said with malice.

"W-w-well, he managed to get away, and somehow made it all go completely dark, and before we had recovered he had apparated away."

"You and Severus have failed me again, Augustus. I do not take too kindly to failure," The voice replied again. It was high and cruel, but the calmness in his voice made it sound all the more evil "Severus?"

"Yes, my lord?" replied Severus Snape, standing next to Rookwood at the edge of the forest's clearing.

"Due to your defeat of Albus Dumbledore, you are forgiven. Go and prepare what we were talking about."

"Yes, my lord." Replied Snape, and with that he stalked away, leaving Rookwood and Lord Voldemort alone in the dark.

There was silence for a moment.

"_Crucio" _said the Dark Lord, a bright red bolt of electricity firing from his wand straight at Rookwood. Writhing in agony on the floor, Rookwood anchored his mouth shut, trying not to seem weak to his master.

"Good," said Voldemort quietly "Do not fail me again, Augustus. Or I fear the consequences may be more, shall we say, _severe."_


	3. Recovery

Chapter 3 - Recovery

The next week passed at a snail's pace for Harry. The Burrow had now become his prison, as he was not able to leave its boundaries in case he was attacked. The house had been enchanted with all kinds of magical wards and barrier to protect the house. For Harry though, this place was hell. He couldn't go anywhere without being reminded of Ginny, especially as she lived there. She had tried to do the wise thing and stay out of the way of Harry. This didn't present much difficult to her, as Harry never came down for dinner, and just stayed up in his room. It wasn't until an exact week after Harry had walked in on Ginny and Dean that he finally came down for dinner.

The Weasley family and Hermione looked at Harry in shock as he entered the kitchen and sat beside Ron, completely silent and not looking at anything but the solid oak table that was groaning under the weight of the food that was placed upon it. Harry's appearance set a rather sombre tone for the meal; even Fred and George kept their jokes few and far between. Ginny couldn't even look at Harry, with the guilt at what she had done to him, as she noticed his appearance as he walked into the room.

Harry's hair was now long, shaggy and greasy; his face was dirty and covered with stubble. His entire complexion was now paler than even before, and his face looked gaunt and skeletal. He had obviously lost a lot of weight in the last few days through lack of nourishment. After scoffing down his food ravenously, Harry retired again to his room. Ron had begun sleeping in the same room again, but refused to comment on what he had seen Harry doing at night-time. Needless to say, Ron didn't behave particularly well towards Ginny after he found out what had happened.

It was two days later that Harry actually began speaking again for the first time, and began making regular appearances around the Weasley family household. Hermione had told the rest of the family one afternoon, that after much deliberation and thinking in his room, Harry had told her that he refused to let a mere girl have this much control over his life and his emotions, and that if she didn't want him then it was her loss. While Hermione didn't like the use of the phrase "mere girl" she had encouraged him anyway. His new found confidence was beginning to bring him back around to the Harry that he used to be.

For the next week at the Burrow, everything started to flow much smoother between Harry and the Weasley family. While Harry still spent most of his time talking to Hermione, he was now partaking in every conversation at dinnertimes, and was making stronger friends with Fred and George. Ginny, however didn't seem to like this. The fact that Harry had recovered from his supposed heartbreak so quickly confused her. _"Did he ever even love me at all?" _she thought as she watched him flick bits of cream at Ron one evening at dinner. On the evening before Harry's birthday, Ginny was even more agitated by the fact that the rest of the family seemed to be accepting Harry even more, and was now treating him with more complete love and care than they had previously. She was also beginning to grow suspicious of Hermione, who was spending rather a lot more time with Harry that she liked. It seemed that Ginny was no quite as over Harry as she had thought. After having several discussions with Ron she discovered that he had seen it too, though they both agreed that Harry seemed quite oblivious to her behaviour. Nevertheless, they didn't like it, and they both made a pact that they would try to intervene as much as possible.

Harry woke up on his birthday with a start, realising that he was finally of age. Excited, he jumped out of bed and started summoning and banishing things in every direction. He loved the way that he could use his magic freely, and was having a lot of fun until he accidentally sent Hedwig's cage crashing into Ron's head. Ron woke immediately, and was not happy.

"Harry, what the bloody hell are you doing?" he asked, rubbing his temple where the cage had hit him. His face began to turn to the colour of his flaming red hair as his anger built up. He was going to have a rather nasty bruise there later.

"Sorry, Ron," Harry replied enthusiastically "It's my birthday, and I just wanted to let myself go a bit."

Ron understood his sentiments; he had done exactly the same thing on his birthday, though he hadn't sent a cage into his best friend's head.

"OK, mate," he replied with a slightly miffed expression, focusing on making his anger subside "Come on, Mum told me to bring you down for breakfast as soon as I knew that you were awake."

Five minutes later, Harry entered the Weasley kitchen to a sight that brought tears to his eyes. Every member of the Weasley family (bar Percy and Charlie)including Fleur and Hermione were sat around the kitchen table, waiting for him, all beaming. The room was intensely decorated, with streamers bouncing off the walls, confetti raining down from the ceiling and a large banner saying "Happy Birthday Harry" in large, alternately flashing colours. Immediately, the Weasley clan began with a chorus of "Happy Birthday" (with Fred and George leading enthusiastically, of course) before Mrs Weasley handed Harry a large piece of chocolate cake.

"Now I know you don't usually have cake for breakfast, but you don't turn 17 every day." Molly said smiling as she passed over the plate.

"You know you didn't have to." Harry replied, aiming his words at all of them as he speared a bit of the cake that he had cut off with his fork.

"Yeah we did." said George.

"It was only something that we knew you would do for us." continued Fred.

"Happy Birthday, mate." Said Ron, clapping him on the back and beaming at him. Hermione hadn't said anything to Harry yet, apart from singing to him, but she had a worried yet different look about her, Harry thought. He had to remember to ask her about it later.

Next came the presents, and after all of the decorations on the table itself had been cleared away, it was time to open them. The room went almost silent at this point as Ginny handed over the first box. Harry was surprised to notice that it wasn't anything personal, but a book on wards against dark spells and enchantments. It seemed that Ginny really had thought about him and his future and therefore he showed true gratitude when he thanked her afterwards.

The next presents that Harry opened were: the traditional watch for coming of age from Molly and Arthur, and a large box of Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes from Fred and George._ "The usual"_ Harry thought, until Harry realised that it was a "chosen one" special edition. Fred and George were still chuckling to themselves with this idea and had obviously made a lot of effort. While they had the same products, they had changed the parcels inside the box to have very funny named. The dungbombs, for example were now named "Mouldy Voldy Bombs" and underneath, it said "even the guy without a nose would have trouble not catching a whiff of these."

Hagrid had sent him a large box of vanilla fudge, while Bill and Fleur had given him a voucher to the restricted section of Flourish and Blotts. This was something that Bill had to fill in a lot of paperwork for, and Harry thanked them profusely, wondering what he could find out in the section of the store that had always been roped off to ordinary customers. Harry was also rather impressed with Ron's rather expensive gift also: a deluxe Firebolt-only broomstick servicing kit. It claimed that it was the only kit that would properly service and clean a Firebolt while being guaranteed to improve its performance. Ron just mumbled "don't mention it." when Harry tried to thank him. He was beginning to get worried about Ron, it had seemed that something over the past few days had been upsetting him; he hadn't behaved quite the same.

Just as Harry was about to reach out for his last present he was stopped by a large red bird flying through the kitchen window. Harry immediately recognised it as Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, and realised that it was carrying a rather large parcel with a grubby brown enveloped attached to the top. Ripping out the parchment he unfolded it and read.

"Dear Harry,

This is the birthday present that Albus left you before he died, along with the contents pertaining to you from his last will and testament. I hope that you will find them useful. Happy Birthday.

Professor M. McGonagall"

His mind racing, Harry used a _diffindo_ spell to rip off the spellotape and opened the box. Inside was none other than the sword of Godric Gryffindor. Harry's jaw dropped in disbelief. This was a present for his birthday. Dumbledore obviously thought that it would have been useful in the hunt for the Horcruxes but Harry had no idea why. The rest of the Weasley family marvelled as they passed the sword around the table, admiring its lavish and intricate silverwork.

Harry thanked Fawkes, and opened the window. He wouldn't move. Instead, Fawkes tilted his scarlet head and lifted a few of the feathers on top of it in an inquisitive way. Confused, Harry looked at the parchment again, realising there was another piece with a Ministry of Magic seal.

"Dear Mr Potter,

On the event of Dumbledore's death, his will states that his familiar, Fawkes the Phoenix has been passed on to you. There were no other instructions other than the will saying "Harry will know what to do, and should now feel safe going out in the world as long as Fawkes is nearby" "

Harry was dumbfounded. A phoenix, AND the sword of Godric Gryffindor? What did Dumbledore expect of him? Harry bowed his head as he realised once more that the fate of the entire world was again on his shoulders. He had managed to forget about it for a few days, and his world had come crashing down. Absent- mindedly stroking Fawkes, he reached out for the final present, the present from Hermione.

Harry realised immediately that it had been wrapped with great precision and care, and that the muggle wrapping paper had been charmed so that the cursive words up on it alternated between "Happy Birthday" and "Harry". After opening the paper careful he revealed that inside was a shiny black jewellery box. Inside was a small silver locket with a thick chain. It was not delicate and girly, but was also not particularly masculine either. Embossed upon it was a gold lightning bolt, which was positioned next to a button that Harry pushed immediately. The locket popped open with a click to a picture of Hermione. Right next to it, were engraved the words "Protecting and loving you forever, come what may."

Harry looked up. Hermione had gone. His heart had skipped a beat when he had read those words on her gift and he could not wait to thank her for it. He knew that the love that she shared for him as a friend was truly powerful, and he really appreciated it. Harry only wished that she knew that he felt more love of the romantic kind, but knew that she was attached to Ron. Harry wouldn't do anything to jeopardise that, regardless of what had happened with Ginny what was now nearly three weeks earlier.

He found her crying upstairs in the attic after searching the whole house for her. She was even ignoring the grisly ghoul in the corner that kept making sucking noises and waving his fists at her. Harry gingerly put it his arm round her, making her jump.

"Jesus, Harry what did you do that for?" Hermione said, pretending that she hadn't been crying and trying to regain her composure.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, knowing his best friend more than she knew herself, or so he thought.

"Fine, fine. What are we going to do today?" said Hermione, changing the subject.

"I dunno, but I can actually get out of here now!" Harry replied, running his hands through his obsidian strands of hair excitedly "Your choice."

"OK," Hermione said, grinning for real this time before she dragged him off by the hand down the stairs and into the garden. "I have an idea."


	4. Beginnings

Chapter 4 - Beginnings

Harry looked over the yellow flickering candle at his best friend. She was positively beaming at him, being patient while waiting for him to choose from the menu. Hermione had dragged him to a restaurant in a muggle city centre called "Frankie and Benny's". It served all kinds of American and Italian foods, ranging from big, greasy burgers to delicate pasta dishes. The room was dimly lit, and Harry and Hermione were sat in a small leather booth by themselves. After a couple of minutes, Harry set his menu down and had a quick sip of his coke.

"What are you having?" asked Hermione, smiling at him. To her this was the date that she had been dreaming of for months.

"Hmm, I'm going to play it safe and have the pepperoni pizza." Harry replied, putting his coke down and checking his menu for the price again.

"Wuss, that's really boring. Maybe you should try something that you can't have usually." Hermione replied with a playful smirk on her face "I'm going to have the Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni; I've had it before."

Stubborn as ever, Harry wanted to stick with his order. The waitress came back a couple of minutes earlier to take their orders. She was extremely pretty, with big blue eyes, clear skin, blonde hair and very long legs, attributes that Harry certainly didn't fail to notice. Hermione watched Harry's eye line as he gave the waitress his order, and from judging his expression towards the waitress, Hermione got very jealous. Pursing her lips, Hermione tried not to let on the feelings of the green eyed monster inside her. What was worse was that the waitress obviously liked the look of Harry too, smiling at him much more warmly than when she had taken Hermione's order. She seemed to be trying to make it so that Harry was the one in charge and put it upon herself to make Harry feel important. Obviously, Harry liked this. Hermione, however didn't and quickly started talking about their trip the cinema later. Harry noted that she used the word "darling" while the waitress was there, which he thought was very strange, but ignored it. After all, it made him feel warm inside.

Hermione was relieved that they weren't disturbed at all while they were eating. Harry ravenously ate all of his pizza while listening to Hermione talking about whether they should go back to Hogwarts next year. He gave her his undivided attention when she was talking, looking into her eyes. Hermione however couldn't maintain eye contact for long, as she began to blush and so she looked away.

The conversation soon turned over to Hermione's relationship with Ron.

"So what are you going to do now then?" asked Harry "You know that he's totally head-over-heels for you."

"I just don't know," replied Hermione, running her fingers through her hair in stress. "I really don't want to hurt him, but I like somebody else, though I know that's not going anywhere. He's completely oblivious to the fact that I even like him, even though I thought that I had made it god damn obvious enough. And no before you ask I won't tell you who he is, you don't know him anyway."

"Oh." Harry replied, thinking about this shocking revelation. He was shocked at the sudden sinking feeling that he had in the pit of his stomach, one that he'd only felt once before, but it was way more intense then. He realised he was jealous of Hermione's mystery man.

It wasn't long after this that the bill came, the blonde waitress passing it purposefully over to Harry before winking at him. He realised immediately that a telephone number was written underneath with a name. Kelly. Seeing this, Hermione snatched up the slip of paper from the table and began to rustle in her handbag for her purse. She wanted to get Harry away from "her" as fast as she could, the jealousy bubbling up inside her. Another reason for this behaviour was that she needed to get herself out of there as quick as she could, because she was dying to reach for her wand and hex the girl to oblivion. Harry didn't seem to notice at all as she dragged him forcefully outside by the arm.

Hermione's deep sigh surprised Harry as they pushed through the big glass doors of the restaurant to get out. Harry kept schtum again instead of asking her for the reason. He had a bit of an inkling but he didn't want to say anything in case he made a complete fool of himself. Hermione's high heels clacked against the pavement as they walked under the streetlights to the cinema. After a minute or too, she linked arms with Harry, praying in her mind that it would be alright and that Harry wouldn't think it was weird. _"If it will happen, tonight will be the night." _Hermione thought as she watched the pavement, the water on the surface of the asphalt making it glitter like hundreds of tiny diamonds. Harry's heart skipped as he felt Hermione's arm around his, and tightened the angle of it in order to pull her closer a bit. Praying that this was a sign, Hermione looked straight ahead into the brightly lit street, butterflies flying around rapidly in her stomach as they proceeded towards to revolving door of the cinemaplex.

Hermione had already booked the film in advance, sliding her credit card into a machine which immediately proceeded to print out the tickets that were needed for entry. When her card popped out again, Hermione passed Harry's ticket over to him. It said that they would be seeing a film called "Titanic" and it would be on screen seven. Harry had no idea what he was in for, so he blindly followed Hermione towards the screens. She had decided on not buying popcorn from the vendors near the entrance, as it was far too expensive, besides she had a number of treats in her handbag for the film.

Half an hour into the movie, Harry became very surprised when he realised Hermione's choice of film genre, having previously no idea of the storyline. She was sat on his right in the darkness of the theatre, her eyes transfixed on Leonardo Di Caprio as he held Kate Winslet to stop her from falling from the ship. Harry also realised that there was a look of longing in her eyes, like this love was missing from her life. Harry prayed that her mystery man was him as he gingerly placed his arm on the armrest, with his palm facing upwards.

Hermione suddenly became very nervous when she saw this reaction out of the corner of her eye. Was he doing this for comfort? Or was this something more? Question after question swam around in her head as she thought, trying desperately to build up the courage to reach out and grab his hand. Slowly, she reached out her hand and placed it gently upon Harry's. Both of their hearts lifted like rockets, and immediate electricity coursing through them as the butterflies in their stomachs suddenly got a hundred times bigger and faster. Harry looked at Hermione, and at the fingers in the palm of his hand. Closing his fingers gently, he used the other arm to lift up the armrest and hold Hermione's hand properly. Still watching the film, Hermione began to cry as they reached towards the end, watching Rose reluctantly let Jack's hypothermic body fall into the water.

As Harry watched the glistening tears fall down Hermione's face, he felt the uncontrollable urge to touch her, to make her happy again. Using his free hand he wiped the tears from Hermione's face. She smiled, making it obvious to Harry that she felt so foolish, that they had been through just as difficult problems together and that she was crying at a film! Harry didn't care. With great hesitation, Harry let go of Hermione's hand and placed on of his fingers under her chin, slowly pulling her face towards his. Knowing what was happening, and with her stomach in her mouth, Hermione closed her eyes and parted her lips slightly. His heart pounding in his chest, Harry pushed his lips against hers in blissful oblivion. While they were kissing they were completely unaware of anything going on around them. They were completely engrossed in each other, as their lips moved and parted to fit with each other's again and again. After about 30 seconds, they came up for air, realising that a number of angry people had gotten to their feet. The screen had stopped working and now was completely snowy, with a static sound blasting from the speakers. Harry and Hermione had completely missed the fact that all the technology had stopped working the moment that their lips had touched.

Harry and Hermione were positively beaming as they stepped out of the revolving doors of the cinemaplex. They walked hand in hand as they meandered along the pavement towards the nearest main road so that they could signal the Knight Bus to take them back to the Burrow. They hardly said any words at all as they walked under the inky sky, still reeling from the fact that they were now together, both feeling the electricity that centred at the clasp between their two hands.

On the Knight Bus, Hermione snuggled up to Harry on a double seat as it set off with a shunt. She thought that she had never remembered feeling happier or more complete as she felt Harry stroke back locks of her hair as they were shoved this way and that by the movement of the Knight Bus. It was about five minutes later that they were back on the nearest main road to the Burrow. Harry noticed that Fawkes was still flying overhead as she had all this time, he had been watching over them all night.

Walking through the darkness, they let go of each other's hands as they saw the lights of the Weasley household fast approaching. They had already agreed that since Ron obviously had feelings for her, it would be a good idea for him not to find out, at least for a while anyway. Nevertheless they couldn't hide the smiles on their faces as they walked into the kitchen to join Fred, Ron, Ginny and Molly at the table, who had been just talking.

"Hi you two! How was your evening?" Molly asked as Harry sat down next to her.

"Really good," Harry replied "Hermione took me to a restaurant and then to see this film called "Titanic" at a muggle cinema. While it was really good, it was a bit sad. All the girls in the room were crying anyway.

"Well bringing out emotion shows a good piece of art" Molly replied as she summoned two cups of tea to the table. "Harry, are you alright?"

Harry was leant forwards on the table in obvious pain. He had a sharp stabbing pain in the stomach, and he started to feel very queasy. He couldn't say anything in reply to Molly to stop himself from whimpering, he also feared that if he opened his mouth he might be sick. He bolted from the table and up the stairs to the nearest toilet. He heard footsteps behind him as he got into the toilet and let loose into the toilet bowl.

"Bloody hell, Hermione," Ron said incredulously "What have you been feeding him?"

Hermione ignored him, and began to rub her new boyfriends back, and held his fair out of his face. While it wasn't in the way, Hermione didn't know what else to do. It was obvious to her that it was just a stomach bug that he must have gotten from the pizza. Harry continued to throw up for at least another ten minutes, Hermione and Ron grimacing as they saw what was coming out of his mouth. Harry really was whimpering now, he felt so weak that he could just collapse at any moment. Soon it began to subside, however and finally Harry sat with his back against the wall.

"Er... I'll go get you some water, alright?" Ron said, leaving the bathroom to run to the kitchen. He absolutely bounded down the stairs and his mother was already waiting at the bottom with the glass in her hand, obviously she was already bringing it up.

"Thanks, Mum." he said as he took the glass, and walked slowly up the stairs back towards the bathroom.

"It's alright baby, I'm here," Hermione said, running her finger down Harry's cheek. "Just take a deep breath." Harry did so, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth. Ron entered just a second later with the glass of water. His face was white and his eyes wide. Silently, he passed the water to Hermione and left the bathroom quickly. Moments later, Hermione heard a bedroom door slam.


	5. The Book

Chapter 5 – The Book

The dim light of the morning sun shone through Harry's eyelids, causing him to stir. Blearily opening one eye, he peered at the clock on the opposite wall. Realising it was half past eight, and time for breakfast, he decided to get up. Somehow this morning was different however, as he really struggled to get out of bed and put his clothes on. It was as if all of his strength had been taken out of him. It was even difficult for him to lift his t-shirt over his head as he put it on. With a furrowed brow, Harry set off down into the kitchen to get some breakfast.

Hermione was already sat at the table opposite Fred when Harry shuffled over to them with great difficult. She had the same look of weakness upon her face as she slouched at the table, managing only a weak smile when she saw Harry walk in, but could barely muster any more energy. Plopping himself next to her heavily, Harry dragged the nearest box of cereal towards him with one hand, and gave Hermione's hand a quick squeeze with his other. Somehow, immediately he began to feel better. Hermione noticed to as she looked straight at Harry as they both felt their energies returning rapidly. Keeping his hand locked with hers, he began to feel much better. _This is weird _he thought. _Maybe something happened last night when I kissed Hermione, I mean all of the technology in the cinema cut out._

Harry resolved that he would have to talk to Hermione later, but for now, feeling better he removed his hand from Hermione's and poured some milk on his cereal. He absolutely wolfed his breakfast down his neck, the Lucky Charms having been imported for him especially from America. His body was aching for some food in it after all that projectile vomiting last night, his stomach was completely bare." _Maybe I should have had something other than that pizza" _he thought. Motioning for Hermione to follow him, he walked upstairs towards his room. After seeing that Ron had shut the door again, they decided to go into Hermione's. Ginny was already up, having already set off to meet Dean.

Hermione span Harry round as she shut the door behind them, while pushing him onto the bed. Positioning herself above him, she moved in for a deep kiss, plunging them again into that blissful oblivion that they had both craved since last night. She had been waiting for his touch all night, but realised she had to stop as she felt Harry's desire rising beneath her. Harry gave a disappointed sigh as she swung her leg off of him and set next to him. Harry remained laid on the deep red sheets as she sat up beside him.

"What do you think happened earlier?" she blurted out. It was something that she had been desperate to ask for a while but couldn't while Fred was there.

"I don't know," replied Harry, staring at the ceiling "I woke up and felt awful, like I had no strength in me at all, but when I got nearer to you I started to feel better. This increased tenfold when we actually touched."

"I know," muttered Hermione quietly "It must have something to do with what happened the electricity earlier."

"My thoughts exactly." Harry replied as he sat up next to her and draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Well we have to go to Diagon Alley sometime anyway," Hermione stated "and now that the letters for this year's supplies from Hogwarts arrived this morning I can't see a better day to go. It means I can look in Flourish and Blotts for any information regarding our predicament."

"OK, my darling" replied Harry, reaching over to Hermione to plant another soft kiss on her lips. Within seconds this developed into something much more as the kiss opened and Harry began to run his fingers through Hermione's chestnut locks of hair. Craving his touch, Hermione shuffled closer towards him savouring every single movement of his soft lips. Her whole body was tingling as she broke the kiss and held her new boyfriend to her.

20 minutes later Hermione, Harry and Fawkes were stood in a very crowded Diagon Alley. They had struggled to prise themselves apart from each other but it was Hermione in the end that had broken the passion. They didn't hold hands now or make any contact in any way as they meandered through the throng of people towards Flourish and Blotts; they didn't want anyone from the Daily Prophet or any other sort of media to find out that they were together. They really couldn't deal with all the press on top of all the "chosen one" hype.

Hermione was again in her element as she let the heavy pine door swing behind her as she entered the shop. She breathed in the spine –tingling effect that the magic from the countless tomes and grimoires gave off. She went straight up to the nearest member of staff to ask for help on their particular problem while Harry went off to find their books for school. 15 minutes later, Harry was stood impatiently waiting for her at the door, two large cauldrons full of books charmed to hover next to him. Hermione soon came shuffling into sight with an eager yet concerned look on her face. She had a very old looking, bronze plated book in her hand but she refused to let Harry see the title until they got back to the Burrow – if any member of the public saw it who knew what would pop up in the tabloids the next day.

They arrived back at the Burrow again covered in soot, the fireplace at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions having not been cleaned in a while. After cleaning themselves off with one of Hermione's _scourgify_ spells, the proceeded to run up to Harry and Ron's room to have a look at the book. Ron had already left when they entered the room, and so Hermione threw the heavy tome onto the bed, which bounced slightly before settling. Harry was very shocked to see the title of the book. _"True Love – A guide to soul bonds and their effects"._

Harry gaped open mouthed after he reread the title again and again. "_Soul bonds?" _he thought, with another thousand questions jumbling through his head at a hundred and fifty miles an hour. He pushed the clasp of the bronze lock to open it. It opened with a whooshing sound, one that made Hermione beam at Harry; she was struggling between whether to read or to look at him. As she did in the shop, she read the opening page.

"_Congratulations to you two, the successful openers of this book. I only open to those of truest heart, and those that have successfully completed a soul bond. While I have no name, I would like you to refer to me as "the book" when talking about me to each other, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. I have only been opened by one couple thus far, and this was 1017 years ago by Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw. _

_I am not really a book, more of a consciousness, as you will see that for now the rest of the pages inside me are blank. I will add more information when I believe you are ready. I can see the innermost thoughts and feelings in your head, young lovers and it was entrusted to me by the Creator to guide you through your lives. As for now, I have a few pages that I am willing to let you read, but first I have one, extremely important task. You must tell Ronald Weasley of your relationship. If you do not, the consequences will be extremely severe._

Hermione looked up and at Harry. The book hadn't said that before.

"So... we've got to go along with the Book says, or it'll punish us?" asked Harry uncertainly.

Words had already begun to appear on the pages. Harry felt uncomfortable as he fingered the corner of the parchment. The Book reminded him a little too much of Riddle's diary.

_No Harry, before you ask, I am most certainly not a Horcrux. I was written by Merlin himself, who studied the magic of love for many years through his contact with Morgana La Fay. _

Harry widened his eyes in shock. More words appeared on the page as more questions filled his head. Hermione just sat, staring at the page intently.

_I will be your guide to life from here on in. You will develop new powers, new strengths of magic and as such need a guide through this difficult period of learning in your lifes. For now, I stand by my only instruction. On the back page there will be a task list, one that I will update often. They will be crosses out as you complete these tasks. I call these my "trials of fire". They are to help you through the difficult times that lay ahead of you, and encourage the fiery passions of love that have already begun to grow inside you._

Harry immediately flipped to the back page. It was ornately decorated, with many intricate swirls of ink moving slowly but fluidly around the borders of the page. The title "Trials of Fire" was also in this intricate font, and underneath in a completely different, bold and urgent bright red blocky font were the words._ Tell Ronald Weasley about the relationship. He has an extremely important part to play in the future. However, beware that you will need to move out of the Burrow for the period until you go back to Hogwarts. HE IS NOT TO KNOW OF THE SOUL BOND._

Hermione gulped at these last words. "When are we going to do it?" she asked uncertainly. Bracing himself, already building up the courage to break one his best friends' hearts, he said

"After dinner tonight, we will take him into the garden and explain it. Lucky you learnt that fast packing spell from Tonks recently, Hermione."

Hermione sighed and nodded. She was going to hate this more than Harry was. Hermione herself had thought that she had had feelings for Ron and had begun to lead him on. She knew that what they were going to say to him last night would completely destroy him.

Showing books and giving Harry and Hermione head boy and girl positions. She asks if he realises that this means that they will be sharing a room together. Harry seems pleased at the idea which pleases Hermione as she knows that she is developing feelings for him.


	6. Treachery

Chapter 6 – Treachery

Bracing themselves, Harry and Hermione followed one after the other into the kitchen. They had decided that they couldn't wait until after dinner to tell Ron about their relationship. They needed to get it over and done with.

"Erm, Ron. Can we talk to you outside for a second?" Hermione asked the Weasleys' youngest son nervously. It seemed that Ron already knew what was coming – he had been sat completely still in the kitchen when they had entered. Looking confused and being completely oblivious to the situation, Molly said

"Come on Ron; let's not be rude, they want to talk to you about something."

Run grunted, and shuffled outside in front of them, his face not showing the slightest hint of any emotion. The sky was completely cloudless above their heads as they stepped outside. The fact that they were in the countryside meant that there was no light interference from nearby cities, and therefore the stars were absolutely breathtaking. Harry couldn't help admire the thousands of twinkling lights while they were walking to a remote area of the garden; he hoped that this peacefulness was a sign of good things to come.

"Ron, we have something to tell you." Hermione started, looking urgently at Harry for some assistance. Even she felt that she was out of her depth on this one. "Recently, Harry and I, well we started to develop some... erm...-"

"What she is trying to say, Ron is that Hermione and I are now a couple." Harry interrupted. The two lovers looked intently at Ron, waiting for a response. When he opened his mouth, his words were barely more than a whisper.

"How...Long?" he asked, his voice raising a little in volume towards. It was clear by the clenching and unclenching of his fists that he was trying his best to control his anger.

"Only a couple of days, it was on his birthday actually." Hermione said, somehow trying to be reassuring.

"Well happy fucking birthday to Harry." Ron said, a bit louder. Harry and Hermione looked down.

"Ron, we're sorry. I'm sorry, "Hermione replied, placing her arm gently on Ron's shoulder "I didn't mean to lead you on, but I see it now. It's Harry, It's always been Harry."

"Get off me!" Ron said angry, looking at them with utter contempt "Of course it would be, Harry-I'm-better-than-all-my-friends Potter. It was always going to be The Boy Who Fucking Lived wasn't it Hermione. I...I... You gave me the impression that you loved me."

"I know, and I'm sorry." Harry stayed quiet as all this was going on; he didn't want to cause any more damage than was necessary.

"Well sorry isn't enough. It never will be. You both have fucking betrayed me." Ron shouted. Hermione was crying now. Harry resistant the incredible urge to touch her, cuddle her and make her feel better, but he knew that the sight of them better would only hurt Ron more.

"Ron...we couldn't help it. We can't help our feelings." Hermione pleaded, rushing towards Ron to touch him, trying to reassure him that they could still be friends.

"I said get your fucking hands off me, mudblood whore!" Ron growled, pushing Hermione backwards with a lot of force, causing her to fall to the floor. Ron snarled at her, and slowly began to raise his fist so that he could punish her. Punish her for breaking his heart, ruining everything. Take away everything that he had ever wanted and had ever dreamed of.

**THWACK!**

Harry's fist collided with Ron's jaw, forcing him to stumble to the ground.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Harry shouted. "Going to punish the girl that you are supposedly in love with?" Harry punctuated this sentence with an uppercut to Ron's chin, knocking him out cold onto the floor.

"Hermione, baby. We're leaving." Harry muttered, summoning Hermione's beaded handbag with their trunks in, grabbing his love by the arm and turning their bodies on the spot to apparate with a small "pop".

Molly ran outside moments later to see her son sprawled on the ground with a broken nose.

"_Ennervate"_ she said, casting the revival spell on her youngest son. "Ron, tell me what happened."

There was a loud pop in the living room of number twelve, Grimmauld Place as Hermione and Harry materialised into existence once more. Lifting Hermione into his arms, Harry immediately carried her over to the sofa, only to realise when he put her down that there was blood on his palms from where he'd been supporting her head.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Harry said nervously, summoning a bottle of "Essence of Dittany" from Hermione's handbag with his wand.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied, wincing as Harry began to place droplets of the clear liquid onto her wound with a pipette. "I can't believe he was going to hit me." She was trying not to cry, and Harry put his arm around her as he continued his treatment

Harry didn't say anything at this point, not wanting to let his anger get the better of him again. Seeing this reaction, Hermione continued "I honestly didn't think he would react as crazily as that. It seems like he thought that he was living in your shadow."

"Well he kinda was. You're all done." Harry replied, positioning his wand at Hermione's now healed cut in order to _scourgify _the remains of any dried blood that was left "He always gave me the impression that he thought that anyway. You remember what he was like when my name came out of the Goblet of Fire in our fourth year. He didn't talk to me for weeks!"

"I know, I just don't know what to do now. We did what the Book told us to do, but I don't understand how it's going to help us at all in the future." said Hermione, leaning her head back to snatch a quick kiss from her soulmate before reaching into her bag for the Book.

Again, after pushing open the magical bronze lock that allows access to the Book, Hermione positioned the book on her lap to look at the first page. Realising that there was nothing new, Hermione turned to the second. It was now filled with a complete new page, entitled "_Soul Bonds and Their Respective Relationship with Magical Energies."_

"Harry, there's a new page," quipped Hermione excitedly, pointing at the intricately handwritten page.

_The relationship between a soul bound couple, and the magical energies that flow through them is very important. While a soul bound couple receives many extra magical powers from their soul bounding, the use of any of these rapidly depletes the energy in the witch or wizard's magical core and causes extreme exhaustion. Repeated use of any of these powers within a period of time can be fatal._

_This however is not the case when the soul bound couple is together. The bonding of the two souls creates a situation where all their magical energies are recharged through contact with the other person. As such, the soul bound couple should remain in close contact at all times, and should ALWAYS sleep in the same place. Therefore if one member of the soul bond dies, so does the other soon after._

_This is extremely important as not only do the couple's magical energies deplete quickly through use of developed powers, but through living life in general. The energy of a magical couple depletes twice as fast as any other couple when apart, but when they are together, it is possible for them to go without rest or sleep indefinitely (not including use of powers)._

_There is more to be given on this topic, Harry and Hermione, but it will be given in due time. Meanwhile, enjoy each other's company. Things will not be so simple and easy very soon – your stay here will be temporary._

"Okay, the fact that there is a book with both our names in like this is starting to really weird me out." Harry said to Hermione as they both looked up from the book. The look she gave him showed that she concurred, and sighed as she walked over to the table put the book back into her bag.

Harry stretched out the moment she got off the sofa, sprawling out over the three-piece. Hermione raised an eyebrow as she saw this, but smiled as she saw that Harry was beckoning for her to join him.

The new couple spent almost four hours staring into each other's eyes and talking that afternoon, deciding on what they were going to do over the next few days, and how the Book knew that their stay would be temporary.

It was about six pm when Hermione decided that she was getting hungry, and Harry realised that they didn't have any food to eat. Suddenly jumping off of the sofa (and nearly taking Hermione with him) Harry went the front door and apparated. Fifteen minutes later Harry returned with a large margherita pizza from Domino's and a stack of VHS tapes from Blockbuster. Hermione beamed at Harry as he hopped over to the TV and placed a video in the VHS player. They were going to have a cosy night in.

A pale faced boy was writhing in agony inside the walls of his own house. His bald-head torturer stopping around every ten seconds to give Draco Malfoy relief before casting the _Cruciatus _curse again and again. Lord Voldemort stopped, however before the young Death Eater began to lose his mind.

"Now, Mr Malfoy, I hope that you have learned your lesson not to fail in completing my orders again. Next time I will not be so forgiving. Bring in Snape" Lord Voldemort said, walking backwards to sit in the large chair at the edge of the Malfoy's table.

Severus Snape entered alone, less than ten seconds later. He had been waiting outside to give his master the good news.

"Ah, Severus! My most loyal follower," Lord Voldemort said, his face cracking the beginnings of a rare smile as Snape entered the room, looking pleased with himself "What news do you have for me."

"My Lord, Harry Potter has left the Burrow. He is no longer protected by all those wards and unplottability charms and the like. I believe I know where he is."

Lord Voldemort's eyes widened with glee. A real smile was on his face this time, he was finally going to crush his real nemesis, the one person who had embarrassed him and taken away all of his powers sixteen years ago.

"So where is he?" asked Voldemort, slowly.

"The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. And what's more now Dumbledore is dead, I can finally tell you of the location without worry. "The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at number 12, Grimmauld Place, London."

"Excellent." replied Lord Voldemort, getting to his feat with excitement. "Harry Potter will not escape me again. Snape, rally the troops. We attack tomorrow."

Harry was the first to wake the morning after in Grimmauld place. Hermione was sprawled across his chest, her hair slightly covering his face which he blew away as it started to tickle him. Moving his girlfriend gently, he placed a soft slow kiss on her lips, causing her to stir. He stayed there, his lips touching hers until her lips reacted to complete the movement.

"Hmm, I could get used to that every day." said Hermione, smiling but not yet opening her eyes.

"Hermione, I love you." Harry said simply. He had wanted the first time he told her that he loved her to be when they had woken up in each other's arms. Shocked at the first thing that Harry had said to her, Hermione opened her eyes to Harry's. Her heart filled with the sight of all the love in the sparkling emerald eyes of the love of her life.

"I love you too, Harry." She replied, pulling her boyfriend towards her for another tender and loving kiss.

There was a loud bang as the door of number 12 Grimmauld Place flew open. Harry and Hermione broke apart, staring at each other. There was silence as the dust settled to the ground.

"Come out here, Potter," shouted Lord Voldemort from outside "bring the mudblood as well. We don't want to ruin the Black family's nice furnishings."

Sending a _Bombarda_ spell at the hallway, Hermione took the initiative and dragged Harry towards the staircase. Their hearts were pounding as they heard waves of Death Eaters entering the house."

"Any one of you can have the mudblood, but Potter is mine." Voldemort sneered, following behind his servants into the house. Harry and Hermione made it to the staircase, swinging around the bottom of the banister which exploded from a bright blue spell the moment Hermione let go. Dodging stunners, Harry and Hermione bounded up the stairs, firing spell after spell blindly behind them. The Death Eaters were on their tails, they were trapped. Hermione started to panic, looking back and forth as to which room to enter.

"Hermione!" Harry shouted, grabbing her arm and dragging her into the master bedroom as two more stunners hit the spot where she had just been. Thanking the Death Eater's for having such bad aim, Harry slammed the door behind it, locking it with a tap of his wand. Hermione barricaded the door with a chair and then the wardrobe in the corner. But it was no use, they were trapped. The circular window was too small for them both to fit through at once, knowing if one was left behind and killed, the other would die anyway. Their eyes were transfixed on the door, waiting for Lord Voldemort to enter and seal their fates.

Only moments later was the barricade pushed out of the way with the force of the door coming straight off of its hinges. Lord Voldemort entered first, surveying the room for his nemesis, to find them hiding in a corner. There was a blinding flash of fire, burning him as phoenix fire erupted all around him, Fawkes flying into the room through the open window. It flew straight over to Harry and Hermione. Voldemort screamed with fury as he knew what was happening – he had seen Dumbledore do it many times before. With a burst of fire, Harry and Hermione disappeared. Tom Riddle screamed once more, his anger erupting from him at the failure.


	7. Entrances

Chapter 7 – An Unexpected Entrance

There was another burst of fire in Minerva McGonagall's new Headmistresses office as Fawkes, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger burst back into existence, seemingly from nowhere. There was a ball of white and yellow flame as they landed with a soft thump on the cold stone floor, the witch and wizard both yelping from the cold as their naked bodies touched the rock.

"Harry, I think Fawkes might have incinerated our clothes when he saved us." Hermione said nervously, not daring to look at her boyfriend while trying to preserve her own modesty by placing hands over her most private area.

"Ya think?" Harry said sarcastically, but still smiling.

"Hold on, my bag is fine, it's fireproof." replied Hermione, pulling their shrunken trunks out of her little beaded handbag with a spare hand and enlarging them with her wand that had landed a little distance away from her.

They were dressed within about a minute, each of them taking turns to turn around as the other got dressed, in fact Harry was just tying his shoelace when there was a whooshing of air and a familiar voice entered the room.

"Mr Potter, Miss Granger, what are you both doing in here?" said the voice of a very shocked-looking Professor McGonagall. She folded her arms, waiting for a reply. Harry and Hermione looked at each other hesitantly before Hermione finally spoke.

"Well, you see, Professor... erm... Snape must have given away the whereabouts of Grimmauld Place because we were attacked by Voldemort and many Death Eaters. If it wasn't for Fawkes here we would have never escaped."

"But why were you away from The Burrow, I thought that the plan was for you to stay there for the rest of the summer until an auror squad could transfer you to Kings Cross?" replied McGonagall, her lips pursing.

"The living arrangements weren't... easy any longer." uttered Harry quietly.

Minerva McGonagall understood instantly. It was obvious from the way that Harry and Hermione stood together that they were now an item, and she wasn't stupid to know that the two youngest Weasleys had been infatuated for both of them for a very long time.

"Very well, you two. Well now you are here I suggest that you stay until the beginning of term, after all it is only two weeks away. I suggest that you use this time to get to know you're new lodgings. I'm pleased to announce that you two will be Head Boy and Girl for the coming year."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, mouths agape. McGonagall must have sensed that Hermione was about to run up to her and hug her because she quickly shoved two badges and a scroll into her hands.

"Your quarters are two doors down from here, near the entrance to the main vestibule next to the Great Hall. I trust I will see you at dinner, but I must ask you to leave, I have an urgent meeting with the Minister in five minutes."

Harry and Hermione waited until they got outside of the Headmistresses office before they unrolled the piece of parchment that McGonagall had given them. It turned out it was instructions on their duties and how to change the passwords on the house entrances and other portraits.

It was a very short walk to their new quarters that were just off of the entrance hall, but the emptiness of Hogwarts Castle felt very weird to Harry and Hermione. As they walked hand in hand towards the ornate portrait of an old Minister of magic in front of the Wizengamot, there was not even a ghost anywhere in sight. Harry gave a sideways glance to Hermione to see if she had noticed it too, but she had already unrolled the piece of parchment.

"Barabbas, Minister of Magic. I, Hermione Granger, and my accomplice Harry Potter are to be Head Boy and Girl for the forthcoming academic year. We would like our password to be...erm..." Hermione struggled as she was finishing. Harry interrupted for her.

"Sherbet Lemon." He said, smiling but beginning to tear up as he thought of his late headmaster.

"Enter." Barabbas simply said, and the heavy portrait swung open onto a luxurious common room. While it was nowhere near as big as the Gryffindor common room, the materials used were much more grandiose. It had automatically changed its colours to the Gryffindor red and gold as they had entered the room, the lavish scarlet curtains framing a large portrait of the four founders of Hogwarts. There was an oak desk in the corner, a huge sofa and at one wall were the doors to their rooms. The signs on the doors already read "Harry Potter – Head Boy, and Hermione Granger – Head Girl." Seeing this, they both ran into their respective rooms. Harry could hear the unison of Hermione's "wow!" with his as he entered his room. The large four-poster double bed was covered in throw pillows, Egyptian cotton and the hangings were made out of silk. A quick run into Hermione's room showed that they were similar, though Hermione had a dressing table where Harry a small trunk designed especially for a broom. Harry flopped onto his bed and looked up at the ceiling for a few moments. It seemed that Hermione had already missed him, as he felt her flop onto the sheets next to him.

Hermione rested her head on Harry's chest, and moulded herself to his form. She sighed happily. The privacy of this room, coupled with the utter bliss that she was in because of her relationship with Harry made her feel like she was in heaven. Wrapping Harry's arm around her, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Lord Voldemort was not happy. His followers had never seen their master this furious, yet this calm. His voice was calm and cruel as he tortured each of his followers in turn, the _cruciatus_ curse causing the receiver to scream, and his body to writhe in pure agony, a thousand hot needles piercing the skin all at once. Once he had finished, he waited as they all sat at the table again in Malfoy manor.

"I have a plan, my friends. This is a plan that we will not fail. The consequences will be severe if all goes wrong. Indeed we are going to continue with our previous plan. We will eliminate all those closest to Potter. He is weak, and only through teamwork has he ever defeated me. It was never his skill." Voldemort looked around the room coolly, surveying each of the Death Eaters' faces, waiting to see if there was any hint of defiance or weakness emanating from any of them. When nobody moved, he continued:

"Of course, we will first attack his immediate family. This must hurt the most and now that Potter is gone from that house in Surrey we shall be able to take them most easily. You will attack tomorrow evening at nightfall. I want them here alive, I've never tortured a muggle boy before, and this could be fun."

As Harry stirred, he felt a tickling sensation on his face. Reaching his hand up to scratch the itch, his hand came into contact with some hair. Opening his eyes, he saw Hermione's chestnut locks splayed over his chest and face as she rested soundly on him. Harry waited for a moment as he took in the pure ecstasy of waking up with his soulmate. He didn't want to move her, but the uncomfortable pain in his bladder told Harry that he must. Reluctantly, Harry kissed Hermione on the lips, and moved her off of him slowly. Hermione smiled at him as she opened her eyes.

"Oh my god, how long have we been asleep?" she asked, stretching her arms above her head and then sitting up straight.

Well considering we missed the feast yesterday and it's what, 8am now? I'd say about 16 hours." Harry replied grinning. Hermione groaned, she knew that too much sleep always left her feeling groggy for hours during the day, but at least she felt well rested. She watched Harry run to the bathroom and summoned an Arithmancy book from her room with a swish of her wand. Grinning at her perfect use of the non-verbal summoning charm, she prised open the leaves of parchment and turned to the chapter on imbuing spells into solid objects without using runic techniques. She unzipped the flies on her jeans and pulled out her penis, pointing it at the toilet.

"WOAH!" Hermione said, jumping out of bed at what she had just seen. She ran into the bathroom to see Harry wearing the same jeans, just washing his hands.

"HARRYIVEJUSTSEENYOURPENIS!" she blurted out all at once as she burst into the room.

"Erm... how? I was in the toilet."

Hermione was trying to look anywhere that wasn't into Harry's eyes. She didn't speak for a moment, and then said, slowly "I saw what you saw."

"What like you were holding my...thing?" Harry replied with a quizzical look."

"Yeah." Hermione said, and was about to suggest that they went to get the Book but Harry was already on it. The flipped open the magical text to reveal that there was indeed a new page filled with ornate text and diagrams.

_Projected Vision_

_This is one of many possible powers developed through the introduction of a soul bond between a couple. This power grants the ability for a member of the bond to temporarily move into his/her partner's consciousness. While the use of the power itself is not as draining as some of the other powers, it can only be used once within a conscious period i.e the "seer" must sleep before he/she could see again. This is a very powerful tool Harry and Hermione. Use it well._

Underneath this was a very ornate diagram of the way the magic flowed between the partners during the process, and what looked like some very odd symbols. From over Hermione's shoulder where he had been reading, Harry flipped over the page to the "Trials of Fire." A new task was written there, something that shot nerves through them before wave after wave of emotion.

_For the reason that you are now beginning to use powers, your bodies need to become more stable. As you learn more powers you need more of a power base. If there is no base there, the consequences will be fatal. You must elope and consummate by the winter solstice on the 21__st__ of December or you will both die._


	8. Protection

Chapter 8 – Protection

Harry again woke up with Hermione sprawled all over him the next morning. They had talked all night about the idea of them getting married, and while they both knew they weren't ready for it yet, they knew that they had no other alternative. Harry looked at his future wife blissfully. He knew that he would be perfectly happy to wake up to the sight of her for the rest of his life. Kissing her head as she slept, he felt her snuggle up to him. Not ready to move from this place of joy just yet, he closed his eyes for a bit of a lie in.

It was only a few minutes later however, that the alarm clock next to the bed started to ring. Harry felt Hermione groan into his chest, before dragging herself off of him and making her way to the shower. Harry lay there for a few more moments, staring into space as he listened to the sound of the water from the shower dripping onto the floor. When he heard the sound stop forever, he grabbed his own towel, closed his eyes and made his way past Hermione to take his turn in the bathroom. Hermione grinned as she saw this display, affectionately kissing him on the nose for trying to preserve her modesty.

They made their short walk into the Great Hall about half an hour later, knowing that while it was not term time that breakfast was an hour later than usual. Harry and Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table, talking quietly while they ate their breakfast. A few moments later, Headmistress McGonagall stood up and addressed her fellow teachers and students.

"As you are all aware, we have been in need of a new Defence against the Dark Arts tutor. However, this year I have felt like I should break the chain of one year teachers and have reinstated an old professor. Welcome back, Professor Remus Lupin."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in shock and wonder as Moony himself wandered in from the back of the Great Hall, rubbing his eyes and looking more worn than usual. Harry didn't need to ask, he knew that tonight was the last night of the full moon so it was around this time that Lupin was feeling his worst. To their great surprise, instead of joining the staff table, he came and sat next to them at the Gryffindor table.

"Harry! Hermione! I don't know about you two, but I've got a bit of Déjà Vu." Lupin said, grinning as he parked himself next to them and grabbed a croissant from a nearby plate.

"Ha, I know what you mean Professor." Harry replied laughing.

"Until the feast tomorrow night, call me Remus, or Moony, you two," Lupin said, "Obviously while we're in a situation with other students you should call me Professor, or Professor Lupin but let's give ourselves a last day of holiday, eh? "

Hermione and Harry nodded together. Hermione was trying to reply but felt a bit rude as she had just taken a rather large bite out of a breakfast muffin.

"So yeah, you have your first lesson with me," Lupin continued as Harry and Hermione listened intently. "I managed to breed a Dementor for myself so that we can practice the Patronus charm. I tell you what though; breeding Dementors is a nasty business. You have to wait until you find an egg at a place of death and then do all sorts of disgusting things. You don't even wanna know."

Hermione looked like she really did want to know, but Lupin stood up and made his way over to the teacher's table with his croissant, shouting a quick, "see you later guys" as he went.

All Harry and Hermione could talk about for the rest of breakfast was how much fun the lessons with Lupin were going to be now that they knew him and that their magic was more advanced. Finally, Hermione stated that she didn't know what to do today.

"OK Hermione, here's what's going to happen," Harry said with a sneaky look that he knew that Hermione wouldn't like. "I want you to meet me at the entrance to the grounds in fifteen minutes. Wear something warm."

"Erm... Ok" Hermione said, wondering what Harry could have in store for them, but she didn't like his "planning things" look. She had seen it many times before and nine times out of ten, things never ended well.

Fifteen minutes later Hermione wandered into the entrance hall, looking for her beloved. He was nowhere to be seen, but as she looked around she was hit with a blindfolding jinx, causing the world around her to go black. A reassuring voice in her ear said

"It's going to be a surprise, love. Just trust me."

The world was totally black for Hermione as Harry led her by the hand. She knew that she was leaving the castle by the sudden blast of colder air and silently thanked Harry for the warning about wearing warmer clothes. They were walking for a good five minutes, until Harry released the jinx and Hermione saw that he had led her onto the quidditch pitch, with his Firebolt in one hand.

"Whoosh no." Hermione said immediately as she saw the broomstick "You're not going to get me on that." She backed away as she said this. She wasn't afraid of heights per say, just the fact that she was awful at flying.

"It's ok," Harry replied edging towards her and putting on what he thought was an encouraging and reassuring expression "I'm going to be riding with you, I just wanted to take you somewhere, I had to get special permission."

It took Hermione a few minutes to accept Harry's proposal, and only did so knowing that Harry had obviously gone to so much effort to get the permissions for whatever Harry was going to do. She shut her eyes again as she clambered onto the back of the Firebolt behind Harry, before wrapping her arms around him tightly.

"Erm, Hermione?" Harry strained.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to need to breathe." Harry replied, sighing heavily as his girlfriend loosened her grip a little. This was less reassurance to Hermione however; as she knew that she would be clinging on for dear life.

"OK, the reason we came out here is to let you get used the air first before we go to our destination." Harry stated, pushing off from the ground gently. Hermione gave a little squeak as they lifted slowly into the air. They circled the pitch four or five times before Harry began to leave the quidditch pitch, heading back towards Hogwarts. It was at this point that Harry took them on an aerial view of Hogwarts. Hermione had to admit that it was very beautiful, and now that she felt comfortable that she wasn't going to crash to the ground, she felt that she could relax a little more. The light of the sun danced off of the ripples of the great lake, and the castle looked spectacular as they circled higher and higher. They didn't stop their ascent until the entirety of the castle and its grounds could be viewed from a single point. They both marvelled at its beauty for a few minutes, not talking at all, until Harry slowly turned back, not towards the Quidditch pitch, but towards Gryffindor Tower. A few minutes later, they both touched down at the very top of the tower, to wear Hermione saw a picnic basket and a mat already laid out for them.

Butterflies immediately began fluttering around rapidly in her stomach as she realised the great effort that her Harry had gone to just because he wanted to be romantic. Thanking the skies for letting her be so lucky, she took Harry's hand in hers as they alighted from the broom and step towards the mat.

"Harry this is amazing." Hermione said, unable to stop the silly grin that had erupted on her face.

"It was nothing, 'Mione." replied Harry, blushing. He really needed to thank the Book for the idea.

They sat atop Gryffindor tower for the rest of the day, just holding each other and talking quietly, revelling in the feeling of being in each other's presence. Hermione lay in Harry's arms as they sat and watched the sunset over the great lake, admiring the multitude of colours that washed over the sky. About ten minutes later after the sunset, Harry slowly got to his feet.

"We have to fly back to the Quidditch pitch and walk back so that no one knows that we have been up here. The only reason we were is because I did a favour to McGonagall beforehand."

Hermione stayed silent, wondering whether to ask just what the favour was, but because Harry didn't elaborate she decided that it either wasn't something important or was too serious for even Harry to trust her with. She hoped silently that it was the first one as they were gliding through the sky back towards the Quidditch pitch. They gently touched down minutes later, with Harry chauvinistically offering Hermione's hand to help her off the broom. Their eyes met for a moment, chocolate on emerald and for that moment there was nothing else in the world for either of them. Hermione had to breathe heavily when they finally broke eye contact; having forgotten to breathe.

Hand in hand they began to walk slowly up towards the castle as the skies got darker and darker, with no clouds covering the stars that were beginning to twinkle against the inky sky. The moon was full; the giant silver disk was so bright it almost seemed to be a sun of its own in the night sky. All was quiet and calm, just the sounds of Harry and Hermione's feet crunching against the grass as they made their way up the well trodden path.

There was a rustling sound to the left of them, and a loud growl. Our heroes froze, looking quickly at each other and to the corner of the Forbidden forest as they instinctively reached for their wands. There was an ear-splitting howl as a giant wolf bolted out of the forest and launched itself straight at Hermione with a growl. Its paws landed on her chest, claws bared. Hermione yelped as they dug into her skin as the wolf reached its head down to maul her face. Harry picked up a jagged rock from the grass and launched himself at the wolf, his wand having been lost in the commotion when the wolf had attacked. He knocked the wolf from Hermione mere moments before having her face ripped off. Standing over the wolf Harry raised the rock high above his head, ready to smash the wolf's skull with what would be a sickening crunch.

"Harry no! It's Remus!" Hermione shouted from the floor, barely managing to get her breath back.

At this moment Harry didn't care. Friend or not, he was too dangerous and he wasn't going to hurt his Hermione. But this moment's hesitation had been all the werewolf had needed, a claw blindly swiping at Harry from the floor and knocking Harry flying. Hermione saw Harry's face already beginning to bleed as he flew over her head. Eyes wide and not caring about the wolf, Hermione ran over to where Harry was out cold, and bleeding heavily.

Hermione grabbed his hand and immediately a tingly sensation shot down her arm and pooled in the pit of her stomach. It was a kind of energy that made her feel warm and she immediately recognised it as Harry's magic; she had felt it so many times when they were together. Keeping contact with Harry, she let his magic fill her up, so that her body was vibrating with magic. Suddenly her body began to emit a white light, the magic permeating every cell of her body. Moony cowered under the brightness of the light, raising one paw up over his eyes as he barked at the brightly glowing witch. Hermione felt her instincts take over as she lifted on magic-ridden hand, causing Lupin to float in the air. With a flick of her wrist, his consciousness broke and his unconscious figure hung for there in mid air while Hermione used her other hand to lift Harry upwards also. Still glowing white, Hermione marched up towards the castle with the werewolf and her soulmate floating gently behind her.

Madam Pomfrey's eyes grew wide as she beheld the sight in front of her as Hermione and the two bodies arrived at the hospital wing. She had to squint to see anything as the light from Hermione was so powerful. She looked at the girl in awe before Hermione abruptly stopped glowing, before muttering "Help him," and collapsing herself.


	9. Discoveries

Chapter 8

The sounds of conversation between Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall were slowly beginning to become less muffled as Harry slowly began to drift back into consciousness. The sensation was similar to that of hearing sounds when you're underwater, Harry thought. The garbled string of sentences was becoming clearer, as he heard the first of the discernable words from Professor McGonagall.

"Death? But how can she have drained her magical core so completely." McGonagall said, pushing her glasses up against her nose and staring at the comatose form of Hermione Granger on the bed opposite them."

"I know, Minerva" Madam Pomfrey replied "I don't know how she did it either; I have never seen such strong and powerful magic than when she walked through those doors. She was glowing. I believe the magic was burning through her."

Madam Pomfrey jumped as she saw Harry's eyes shoot wide open from the corner of her own. Harry sat up straight and launched himself at the chair in-between his and Hermione's beds.

"Harry, you need to get your rest," Madam Pomfrey said, just recovering from the shock and rubbing Harry's back as she began to see tears form in his eyes. Harry gripped the hand of his dying soulmate, looking straight at her eyelids, praying for them to open. He sobbed, his own heart wrenching apart from the knowledge of her situation.

"Come on, Harry," Madam Pomfrey continued "You aren't going to get better if you get yourself into a state like this." Harry ignored her, but moved to sit on the bed next to Hermione before clutching her torso and hugging her closely, his heart spilling on the sheet.

A few minutes later, the matron had realised that it was no use. It was going to be simply impossible to move Harry from Hermione's bedside. Leaving to check on another patient, she decided that she would just have to keep an eye on them; she had managed to fix Harry's cut in mere seconds, anyway.

Madam Pomfrey was just dealing with a rather large cut on the bridge of Justin Finch Fletchley's nose when she heard a large gasp from Hermione's bed. She was completely sat up straight and was wide awake. Harry sat there for a second, stunned before launching himself at Hermione, pulling herself into a strong hug before kissing her face all over.

"I thought that I was going to lose you," Harry said tears of happiness streaming down his face "Pomfrey... she said that you were going to die... I..." But the rest of his sentence was stopped outright by the passionate kiss that his soulmate gave him. The kiss deepened, as their tongues played a fierce battle with one another. It was only a loud cough from Professor McGonagall that broke them apart, their faces flushed with embarrassment.

"Hermione!" she said, beaming "I'm glad that you have come around, we thought that we were going to lose you."

"Thanks Professor," Hermione replied, placing her hand over Harry's, affectionately rubbing the back of it with her thumb.

"Consequently, I've had a look at some of the books in the library, and I wondered if there was something the two of you wanted to tell us, about your soul bond?"

Harry and Hermione sat there stunned. They had been sure that there were no more books on the subject apart from The Book.

"Yes...well." Harry started, but was interrupted by McGonagall again.

"You don't need to explain, Harry. My source explained everything about them, also the fact that you need to be married before the Winter Solstice. Do you know what you are going to do about that?" McGonagall replied.

"We, well, we hadn't really discussed it," Hermione said sheepishly.

"Well now is the best time, I suggest that you set a date."

"Right..." Harry replied "The ninth of October?"

"Why then?" Hermione asked.

"Well, it was just my parents wedding anniversary, so I'd always thought about having mine them, you know, to honour them and all that."

"The Ninth of October it is" reply Hermione, beaming. "I'm going to have to get to work on some preparations; it's only a month and ten days away! Hold on. School starts tomorrow, Professor I haven't got any of the materials I need!"

"Well, if you're feeling up to it today, you can take a trip to Diagon Alley with me? I was going there anyway and I wouldn't mind keeping an eye on you two. Death Eaters probably won't attack Diagon Alley today anyway, but there's Order secrets about that which I can't divulge at the moment."

"Brilliant." Hermione replied, excited for the fact that she was once again going to be able to purchase her favourite things in the world besides Harry – books.

Two hours later, and after a rather lengthy lecture from Madam Pomfrey about how Harry and Hermione should both be taking it very easily for the next couple of days, Harry, Hermione and Professor McGonagall were all stood basking in the sunlight in the extremely busy street of Diagon Alley. While Hermione and Professor McGonagall already had enough money, Harry's emerald velvet drawstring bag that usually held his various coins, there were now only a few Knuts and a Sickle left jangling away at the bottom of the bag. The two females of the group seemed to want to get rid off Harry as they left him on his own to go to Gringotts, and Harry thought this was strange, until he saw the rather excited looking pair heading straight into Flourish and Blotts. Rolling his eyes, Harry headed towards the towering white bank, which was a lot more heavily guarded as usual, and he noticed that a few of them now seemed to be holding magical detectors of some sort.

Harry shivered at the change of temperature as he entered the cool, white marble lobby of Gringotts and began to walk towards the nearest teller. This goblin looked very surly. His face was pointed and menacing, and Harry couldn't help but notice the sharpness to which the goblin's fingernails and been cut.

"Hello sir, I would like to make a withdrawal." Harry said, bowing to the goblin, who looked shocked at the amount of respect that this young wizard had for him. He had heard stories of the way that Harry and a few others were now trying to support the welfare of what the majority of the Wizarding community thought of as "lesser beings."

"Of course, Mr Potter," the goblin said, showing a strange and rare smile to the wizard "Do you have your key?"

"Yes" Harry replied, and placed his own tiny gold key upon the teller's desk. After inspecting it, the goblin motioned for another goblin to come forth to take Harry down to his vault. One wild and particularly sick-making cart ride later, Harry found himself outside his vault – number six hundred and eighty-seven. As the door to his vault slowly opened, his eyes opened widely as he saw the size of his vault, which had grown massively since he had last visited. "_It's like, half the size of the Great Hall" _As Harry stepped among the new mountains of Galleons that had been deposited there.

"Er...excuse me sir." Harry said nervously to the goblin "But there seems to have been some mistake, my vault was nowhere near this size when I visited here last year.

"No mistakes, Mr Potter." The goblin replied "Funds added to your account along with a number of other possessions were added after the deaths of Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore. The funds were left in their wills.

Harry turned and gaped at the amount of gold that stood before him. He saw on a far wall, a large glass cabinet filled with objects. After stepping through the mountains of coins to get to this cabinet, Harry opened it slowly to reveal one object only, a small leather black box that was embossed with a gold letter P. Harry peered into the box, and smiled at its contents before pocketing it. It was going to make his darling fiancée very happy. After filling his velvet drawstring bag, Harry stepped out of the bolt and followed the Goblin into the cart, clutching the side strongly to brace himself for the somewhat worse ride back up to the surface.

With a look that Hermione had never seen before from Professor McGonagall, she was led by the hands to the entrance of "From Veils to Vows". Hermione recognised this as a look of girlish excitement as they both looked into the window of the large wedding shop.

"You're taking me in here, Professor?" asked Hermione, amazed at the fact her Professor would be the one to help her to start making her wedding preparations.

"Call me Minerva when we aren't in school Hermione. When I'm not teaching you I'd like to think of us as friends." The Professor answered with a smile, a smile which Hermione shot back at her in kind.

Harry rubbed his neck as he stepped back out into the sunlight that shone brilliantly over Diagon Alley. It was surprising just how busy it was today, as he had heard that business had been failing recently since Lord Voldemort's rise had become public. The first thing he saw was a large group of redheads exciting Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, led by a rather frustrated looking Molly Weasley. At this same time he saw Hermione and Professor McGonagall exiting what looked to be a wedding shop just two doors down from the robes shop. But stopped face to face with the Weasleys, who had just seen the very shop that they had been exciting. He saw Molly snatch a piece of parchment out of Hermione's hand, and began to read aloud to the others. Harry only caught the end of what seemed to be a list as he finally managed to make his way through the hustle and bustle of the other shoppers.

"What's going on?" Harry said, rushing over quickly to put his arm around Hermione.

"Seems like you're getting married Harry?" said Molly with a sneer that would rival a Malfoy.

"Yes, and?" Harry said, challenging the Weasley matriarch.

"But Harry, what about me? I'm sorry, I still love you." cried Ginny through the tears that were openly rolling down her face.

Harry didn't even feel the slightest hint of longing towards Ginny anymore. The more and more he thought about it, he realised that Ginny actually looked like his own mother, and he had to admit that it definitely creeped him out a bit. He couldn't feel the slightest bit of sympathy for Ginny though, after all that she had done.

"I'm sorry Ginny," Harry said, though not meaning it at all "I'm with Hermione now, and I love her."

Ginny sobs just erupted a louder and louder, until passers by were watching the scene as they went about their shopping.

"Didn't take long for you to get you're claws into him, Hermione?" Ron shouted, his face almost as red as his hair "Which potion did you use?" With that he pulled out a wand and shot a rather sinister looking spell straight at Hermione's face, only for it to be blocked with a simple swish of Professor McGonagall's wand.

"I suggest that you would consider not attempting that again, Mr Weasley" said a very pursed lipped McGonagall, her eyes challenging the entire group of redheads. "Otherwise I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one retaliating. Harry, Hermione. We're leaving. We can get the rest of our items by owl order. I will see the rest of you in September."

Unfortunately, Ron had opened his mouth to cast another curse, but Hermione already had that taken care of, casting a quick _langlock _charm on the youngest male before he could get the spell out. Seeing that it had been taken care of, McGonagall immediately stepped in between Harry and Hermione, and they felt the familiar feeling of being squeezed through a very small tube as they apparated away.


	10. Grand Spectacles

Chapter 10

Hermione was the first to wake up on the first day of the new term. Rubbing the sleep out of the corners of her eyes, she lay on her bed staring at the ornate ceiling for a few moments, thinking about the students that would soon be boarding the Hogwarts Express, she moved her head to look at the clock on the wall next to her but felt a strong pain on her scalp. A large mass of her hair was caught underneath Harry's head. She rested her head against the pillow, sighing against the pillow. She didn't do mornings. Still it would be much better once Harry was awake, smiling cheekily, she leant over her boyfriend, slowly lifting his head so as to release the trapped hair from under it. Leaning forward, she pushed her lips to Harry's, marvelling at the firmness. They were still against hers, but she slowly began to massage his lips with her own, waiting for signs of life. Moments later, Harry returned in kind, and the kiss grew deeper as Harry gently brought an arm up to her chin. Hermione pulled back slowly, marvelling at the tingling sensation as their lips separated.

"Mmm, I could get used to that" Harry mumbled as his eyes flickered open.

"Maybe you might get to." replied Hermione with a giggle "Come on, it's the first day at school and it's..." she took a look at the clock "Four thirty in the afternoon! Harry we've been asleep the whole day, the train will be here in an hour!"

Bolting out of bed, Hermione made straight for the shower, with Harry's mind still in a haze, his fiancée's last words to him still spinning around in his head, and the tingling feeling of her kiss still playing tantalisingly across his lips. It was hard for him to remember being this happy with his life. After everything that had happened in the last year, after all of the problems with Ginny, it seemed like everything was finally going right for a change. He heard the shower door shut, and the jet of water hitting Hermione's body and the floor. Just the thought of her naked made his head spin, and other parts of his anatomy to become a little excited. Maybe he would need to take a cold shower when it was his turn.

As Hermione entered the bedroom again from her shower, Harry's jaw dropped. Hermione had the body towel wrapped around her head, and the much smaller towel wrapped around her body. It left very little to the imagination as the towel just covered her breasts and was very high up on her thigh. She giggled as she saw Harry's reaction, knowing that her devious little idea had paid off well, and indeed it has, as Harry strode right past her into the bathroom, and the moment that he stepped into the shower, put it on its coldest setting, causing him to yelp as the ice cold jet hit his body.

After they had finally gotten dressed, which had taken a lot of time as Harry had decided to follow Hermione's lead and only wrap a little hair towel around his middle, distracting Hermione immensely they made their way into the Great Hall, which was empty except for a few teachers that were already sitting there waiting. Taking their usual seats at the Gryffindor table, they sat and waited for the hustle and bustle of the students to arrive. They weren't waiting long, five minutes later they could hear the first of the great throng arriving in the entrance hall.

The Hogwarts students filtered into the Great Hall quickly and sat at their respective tables. Harry and Hermione noticed that Ron and Ginny both sat as far away from them as possible, glaring at our heroes as they did so. Hermione even saw Ron go for his wand before he was stopped by Ginny, rubbing his arm caringly and trying to get him to calm down. Ron moved away from her quickly, seemingly in some sort of pain.

Everyone's attention however was moved to the staff table when the new Headmistress McGonagall rapped her wand on the table vigorously to speak. The Great Hall was silent now, watching the Sorting Hat floating on a stool in front of a procession of the very nervous first years waiting to be sorted. As usual, the hat burst into song.

"So it seems the war is over,

The Dark Lord overcome,

But there are many trials awaiting,

I'm afraid the war's not won.

The darkest places lie within

These hallowed halls today

But there is always hope for all us

Our love, we must not betray"

There was only a smattering of applause in the Great Hall, as all the students were looking towards the Gryffindor table. It had seemed that the hat had been talking to them as he gave his very short song. Harry looked around the Gryffindor table warily, trying to see the source of the attention. It seemed that everyone was looking at Ginny, who had currently had herself wrapped around none other than Dean Thomas, and was kissing him furiously, before finally pulling apart to smirk at Harry. The sorting then commenced, but it was obvious that not many students were bothered about watching it; more that they preferred talking among themselves. He didn't know what to do about Ginny, so he just smiled, trying to show that he was happy for her, though this was interrupted soon by a familiar pair of lips furiously pressing against his also. He laughed inside at Hermione trying to get one over on Ginny, but he also needed her to feel less insecure about things.

After waiting for the sorting to be over, Harry disinterestedly waited to listen to Professor McGonagall's speech. It was the usual, no going in the forbidden forest, and a new head of Defence Against the Dark Arts, who turned out to be none other than Remus Lupin. Harry and Hermione beamed at him from their tables as the name interrupted them from their stupor. Finally, she told them to enjoy their meals and welcoming them to a new year at Hogwarts. Harry noted with a smirk that she did not carry on the tradition of the school song.

Finally, just as they had both finished their main courses, Harry fumbled in his pocket for a small box, and looked lovingly across the table to Hermione. Now he couldn't exactly get down on one knee, could he? He was far too nervous; she had already said yes to him, it couldn't exactly go wrong. Hesitantly, he got up from the bench and made his way around the Gryffindor table to stand next to Hermione, the hand holding the ring behind his back. She looked at him confusedly, before Harry started to speak.

"The short time that we have been together has been magnificent. I realise now that we have been getting closer and closer since we met, and now that I'm stood here in front of everyone I want to show you and everyone just how much I love you."

Harry got down on one knee, and the Great Hall became deathly silent.

"Hermione Jean Granger, I love you with all my heart, and I always will. You have always been there for me when I needed you, and you make me want to be a better person, you make me the happiest I have ever been. Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

The entirety of the Great Hall seemed to draw breath, as Harry opened the box to reveal a single, square cut solitaire diamond ring. People all over stopped what they were doing and stared. Even Ron, who had a forkful of beans halfway to his mouth, stopped even though he knew they were engaged already.

The look Hermione gave him at this moment made him the happiest he'd ever felt. He saw an endless, unconditional love in her eyes, only interrupted by a tear of joy as he opened the box to show her engagement ring.

"Of...of course I will." said Hermione, choking on her own breath before she enveloped his lips in a deep kiss. The Great Hall almost exploded with cheers. There was even a smattering of applause from the Slytherin table, although a few of the girls in the hall looked furious, especially Ginny.


End file.
